Anthony Durante
By ANDREW RYAN AND DAN PEARSON
Published on 9/27/2003
Autopsy Suggests Recent Drug Use By Wrestler, Girlfriend
Anthony Durante
By ANDREW RYAN AND DAN PEARSON
Published on 9/27/2003
Westerly— During the 1990s, professional wrestler Anthony
Durante, half of a tag team dubbed “The Pitbulls,”
hoisted title belts above his head in arenas from his native New
Jersey to Europe.
Durante's promising career suffered in 1997, after he and his
tag-team partner were arrested for drug trafficking and suspended
from a pro wrestling league. After the arrest, Durante drifted
through stints in martial arts organizations in Canada and Japan.
Recently, however, Durante, who had relocated from Philadelphia
to Westerly, had been working out at South Shore Fitness Center
with hopes of returning to the wrestling mat. But drugs, which
first derailed his career six years ago, may have ended his life
this week.
On Thursday, police found Durante, 36, and his girlfriend, Dianna
Hulsey, 29, lying dead on the living room floor of a Misquamicut
house. The bodies had been there for more than a day, while their
8-month-old daughter lay in a crib and their 21-month-old son
crawled across the floor searching for food.
An autopsy of Durante and Hulsey performed Friday by the Office
of the State Medical Examiner found evidence of recent drug use,
including needle marks, and concluded that the deaths could have
resulted from a drug overdose. In the house, police discovered an
abundance of prescription drugs, including OxyContin, a powerful
painkiller most often prescribed for cancer patients.
Police connected Durante to his Pitbull persona when they found
photos of him flexing in a wrestler's pose.
The autopsy report came one day after Durante's stepfather, who
lives in Westerly, arrived at 3 Linwood Ave. to find the bodies
and the boy and girl, who were hungry and dehydrated. Police
Chief Stephen Baker said Durante and Hulsey had been dead
“at least 24 hours, maybe more” and that Durante's
stepfather, whom Baker would not name, had to break into the
house to get the children out.
The children were taken Thursday to The Westerly Hospital, where
they were placed under the supervision of the Rhode Island
Department of Children, Youth and Families. Baker said that after
72 hours, the DCYF likely would place them with a family member.
Durante's local family members declined to comment.
Neighbors on Linwood Avenue said they had never seen Hulsey,
Durante or their children in the three weeks that they had been
living in the winter rental, a ranch-style house on a quiet side
street not far from Misquamicut State Beach. Hulsey, who has
family in Baltimore, Md., including a sister who could not be
located, had been working at the Wal-Mart store in Dunn's
Corners.
Durante was born in Hammonton, N.J. He made his professional
wrestling debut in September 1988, according to wrestling Web
sites. Early in his career, the muscular, 5-foot-10, 225-pound
Durante partnered with Gary Wolf, a 6-foot, 230-pound powerhouse
from Philadelphia. They became a tag team, wrestling as “The
Pitbulls.” With a long mane of curly dark hair and a bulging
chest, Wolf was Pitbull No. 1. Durante, Pitbull No. 2, had a bald
head and a neatly trimmed goatee.
The Pitbulls' career peaked Sept. 16, 1995, when they pinned the
reigning Extreme Championship Wrestling champs in Philadelphia,
taking home tag-team title belts. They held the belts for about
three weeks, losing Oct. 7, 1995. The next year, Durante made
headlines of his own; on June 1, 1996, he entered the ring alone
and slammed Shane Douglas to win ECW's Television Title.
But while Durante's wrestling career soared, problems lurked
outside the ring. In 1995, police alleged that Durante and Wolf
were selling marijuana and steroids near a school in South
Philadelphia. A federal grand jury indicted them two years later.
On July 2, 1997, police arrested Durante and Wolf for trafficking
in marijuana and Methenolone, an anabolic steroid that hardens
and tones muscle.
A few days after the arrest, ECW suspended Durante and Wolf. In
March 1998, Durante pleaded guilty to conspiracy to selling
marijuana and steroids and to selling marijuana and Methenolone
within 1,000 feet of a school, court records show. He was
sentenced to three years probation and fined $2,000. Police in
New York also arrested Durante for drug-related offenses, Baker
said.
After his arrests, Durante wandered the extreme fighting circuit,
entering competitions in Canada and Japan.
Durante, who had been living with relatives in Westerly since
November, moved to Linwood Avenue three weeks ago. He was last
seen at work Monday at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Baker said. Staff
at the South Shore Fitness Center said Durante frequently worked
out in the morning.
Wolf is scheduled to wrestle Oct. 3 in Cherry Hill, N.J., as part
of a 3PW Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling Event. A woman at 3PW, who
declined to give her name, said Durante had been in contact with
the production company about returning to wrestling.
There was no evidence of third-party involvement in Durante's or
Hulsey's death, but police have not ruled out any scenario, Baker
said Friday.
“This has been a very unusual incident,” he said.
“But the detectives have been working so hard and have been
so involved in the investigation, I don't think they have even
had time to let it sink in.”
[email protected]
The police are waiting for a toxicology report from the
state medical examiner's office to learn what caused the deaths
of the two people found in a Linwood Avenue house.
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, September 27, 2003
BY PAUL DAVIS and MEGAN MATTEUCCI
Journal Staff Writers
WESTERLY -- A former pro wrestler and the mother of his two
children, found in a Misquamicut home Thursday, probably died of
drug overdoses, Westerly Police Chief Stephen N. Baker said
yesterday.
Detectives confirmed that Anthony Durante, 36, had worked as a
wrestler named "The Pitbull" in the now-defunct
Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling league.
The police found Durante and Dianna C. Hulsey, 29, a Wal-Mart
cashier, lying face-up next to each other after Durante's
stepfather called the police Thursday. Baker said the couple had
been dead for at least 24 hours.
The police found the couple's children, a 21-month-old boy and
8-month-old girl, inside the rented house at 3 Linwood Ave. Both
were at Westerly Hospital yesterday. They had some injuries, said
Vincent McAteer, chief of child protective services with the
state Department of Children, Youth and Families. The agency will
seek temporary custody but will eventually place the children
with relatives, he said.
The police found the boy foraging for food and the girl in a crib
in the bedroom Thursday evening. The police also found
prescription drugs and a needle in the house.
There was no evidence of trauma to either victim, but "there
was evidence of recent drug use," Baker said. He declined to
say what kind of drugs were found. The police cannot determine
the cause of death until they get a toxicology report from the
state medical examiner's office, he said.
"I'm not ruling anything out, but it appears a third party
is not involved," he said. No weapons were found.
Although the police found wedding pictures in the house, Baker
would not say whether the couple were married because he could
not find a marriage certificate. The police also found wrestling
photos in the house, he said.
Durante wrestled as a 225-pound member of the "Pitbull"
tag-team in the ECW and later in Pro-Pain Wrestling in New Jersey
in the late 1980s and 1990s. ECW declared bankruptcy in 2001,
according to the Wrestling Information Archive. Durante also
wrestled in a martial arts league and was known for his
"Superbomb" finishing move, in which he jumped off a
table or ladder in a cannonball onto his opponent, according to a
World Wrestling Entertainment Web site.
Durante moved from Phladelphia to Rhode Island after he ran into
financial problems several years ago. In September 2001, he filed
for bankruptcy after he fell behind in his mortgage payments on a
home at 1720 South 11th St., said Michael A. Cibik, a lawyer with
Cibik & Cataldo in Philadelphia.
Cibik said Durante lost a job at a warehouse and once worked as a
high-rise window cleaner.
In November, Durante and Hulsey moved in with a Westerly
relative; three weeks ago they moved to the Linwood Avenue house,
Baker said.
Durante got a job in February as a money-counter at the Foxwoods
Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. He was last seen at work on
Monday.
Durante has numerous drug charges on record with the police in
Pennsylvania, but there are no criminal charges against him in
Rhode Island, Baker said. Hulsey has family in Baltimore and no
ties to Rhode Island, he said.
Yesterday, neighbors said they did not know the couple and rarely
saw the children.
"I've never seen them around. One would think you would see
these people around if they had kids," said neighbor Bob
Nist, of 9 Linwood Ave.
Providence
Journal
2 children found with dead parents now living with their grandparents
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, October 3, 2003
BY MEGAN MATTEUCCI
Journal Staff Writer
WESTERLY -- The two children found in a Misquamicut house with
their dead parents are now living with their grandparents, state
officials reported yesterday.
A 21-month-old boy crawled around the bodies and scrounged for
food, while his 8-month-old sister lay in a crib for at least 24
hours. The children's parents, former pro wrestler Anthony
Durante and Dianna C. Hulsey, probably died of drug overdose,
Police Chief Stephen N. Baker said.
Durante and Hulsey were found dead Sept. 25 in their rented home
at 3 Linwood Ave. in Misquamicut, the police said.
Their bodies, which had several needle marks, were found lying
face-up next to each other and beside several prescription drug
bottles, including the pain-killer Oxycontin, Baker said.
The couple had been dead for at least 24 hours.
The children were taken into custody by the state Department of
Children, Youth and Families and sent to Westerly Hospital for
evaluation, said Vincent McAteer, DCYF chief of child protective
services.
The children were dehydrated and had several minor injuries,
according to the police.
"The injuries were the results of them being alone,"
McAteer said. "But they are healing."
The DCYF placed a 72-hour hold on the children before any
relatives could assume custody, McAteer said. McAteer said he was
unsure whether the children will stay with the grandparents,
since several other relatives expressed interest in caring for
them.
He declined to say where the children are living but said they
are in Rhode Island. The DCYF will no longer be involved with the
children, because they have been placed with relatives.
The family seemed to keep to themselves. Neighbors said they were
not friendly with Durante or Hulsey, and the children were never
seen playing in the yard.
The police said they had had no contact with the family, but
Durante had been convicted of drug charges in Pennsylvania.
Durante lived in Philadelphia and traveled the country as a
member of the "Pitbull" wrestling tag team in the
Extreme Championship Wrestling league. The Philadelphia-based
league went bankrupt in 2001, according to the Wrestling
Information Archive. Durante also wrestled in the Pro-Pain
Wrestling league in New Jersey and later practiced martialarts.
In November, Durante, 36, and Hulsey, 29, moved in with a
relative in Westerly. Durante took a job at Foxwoods Resort and
Casino as a money counter; Hulsey was working as a cashier at
Wal-Mart.
Three weeks after moving into the Linwood Avenue home, they were
found dead.
"There was evidence of recent drug use," Baker said.
"A number of prescription drugs were seized by the medical
examiner. There was a needle by the body and we found other
needles in the house."
There was no sign of trauma to either victim and no sign a third
party was involved, according to Baker. The police said no
criminal charges will be filed.
Capt. Edward Mello said the medical examiner's toxicology report
will probably not be available for several months.